瑞士诺华公司引（Novartis AG）是全球制药和消费者保健行业居领先位置的跨国公司。诺华公司致力于研究、开发和推广创新产品，帮助人类治愈疾病、减轻病痛和提高生活质量。2006年集团总销售额达370亿美元，净收入72亿美元，集团研究开发投入约53.6亿美元。诺华公司总部设在瑞士巴塞尔，业务遍及全球140多个国家和地区，员工约10.1万人。

2005年美国《商业周刊》按市值排名，诺华公司是瑞士第一大公司，居全球第20位，在世界医药行业排名第3位；诺华也是全球最具创新能力的医药保健公司之一。

Novartis 的中文名称--诺华，取意承诺中华。诺华与中国的合作可以追溯至百余年前。目前，诺华在中国总投资额约3.3亿美元，员工2500人，建立了六家分公司和一家研发中心，其业务涵盖了专利药、消费者保健品、眼睛护理、动物保健和原料药等公司所有业务领域。2006年诺华公司在中国大陆市场的销售额达到人民币21.2亿元。广东地区是诺华公司在中国最重要的战略市场，早在1993年诺华公司的前身之一瑞士汽巴嘉基公司就在广东建立了办事处，1996年合并成立诺华公司以后，公司相关业务领域相继在广东设立了办事处。至2007年北京诺华制药有限公司广州分公司已有员工275人，诺华公司产品在广东和珠江三角洲地区已进入医院处方药的前10名。

Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) is a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health. In 2006, the Groups businesses achieved sales of USD37.0 billion and a net income of USD7.2 billion. The Group invested approximately USD5.36 billion in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ about 100,000 people and operate in over 140 countries around the world. According to the Business Weeks ranking in 2005 based on market capitalization, Novartis is the biggest company in Switzerland, the 20th in the world and the third in pharmaceuticals. Novartis is a leading innovative pharmaceutical and consumer health company in the world who has the most strong capability in R&D. Geigy, one predecessor of Novartis, began to sell dyestuff in China as early as 1886. The other 2 predecessors, Ciba and Sandoz, set up their offices in Shanghai in the first half of the 20th century. The real development came after 1979. Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz established several plants in China. Up to now, with a total investment of about USD330 million, Novartis has 6 enterprises and 1 research center in China covering the fields of pharmaceuticals, consumer health, eye-care, animal health and chemicals and intermediates for drugs, and employs about 2,500 people in mainland China. The total sales revenues of Novartis in China reached RMB2.12 billion in 2006